SpaceX has launched a Falcon 9 rocket carrying a Jason 3 satellite to the orbit. The launch was successful, however the rocket tipped over at landing.
According to a message on Twitter wrote by SpaceX founder Elon Musk, one of the rocket's landing legs didn't latch into place on the landing platform and flipped over.
The goal of the mission was to launch the Jason-3 satellite into an orbit inclined 66 grades relative to the equator, at a distance of 830-mile from the Earth's ground. The spacecraft is a joint venture of several European and U.S. agencies.
The satellite is designed to use its instruments to accurately measure the height of the oceans, according to The Washington Post. Oceans are becoming important in efforts to monitor and predict the changing climate. SpaceX will launch a series of ocean science satellites used to monitor climate change and tsunamis, predict severe weather events and track oil spills. Jason-3 is the fourth in the series, according to Discovery News.
The water are expanding with the extra heat absorbed by the oceans, according to oceanographer Josh Willis, with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, cited by Discovery News. The scientist added that the oceans also collect water from melting ice sheets and glaciers. The two factors lead to a global increase of sea levels.
Last month, SpaceX's mission was successful and the rocket was able to return to a landing pad in Florida and perform an ocean platform touchdown. The space mission was part of Musk's ongoing quest to design and build reusable, cheap rockets. On Sunday, the private space agency opted for an ocean landing attempt.
Landing on the ground is easier to perform, saving the trouble, time and expense of dispatching a support ships and a floating landing platform. However, it is just not possible for all of SpaceX's rockets to take advantage of a ground landing, since not all of them have the spare fuel to return to the launch site.
SpaceX is still waiting for the approval of the environmental agency in order to recover and bring back its rocket to its launch site at Vandenberg Air Force Base.
